The Apollo Academy (16 page)

The trembling hands were only the first symptom to reappear because soon her breathing rate had skyrocketed, and the nausea was back with a vengeance. She only had a chance to see Sky’s worried face peering down at her before she passed out, still sitting in the cockpit clutching the release hatch.

It was the second time she’d lost consciousness in the past thirty minutes, but this time waking up wasn’t so bad.

The feeling of someone cradling her head and pushing her wild tangled hair out of her eyes felt nice, and the pure oxygen being forced into her lungs cleared away the fogginess. She tried to see who was holding her, but as soon as she opened her eyes she was blinded by bright sunlight. She closed them again.

Everything was eerily silent while she breathed in the stale air. It was too quiet, and Aurora knew it wasn’t right. It was the type of silence that happened right before a storm. She knew chaos would soon break free because she felt its electrical charge building, just waiting for the right moment to release. She took comfort in the warm arms that encircled her, and she curled up even tighter, trying to surround herself in its comforting heat.

The safe haven and oxygen began to take effect, and as soon as she felt better, her mind snapped free, and all of the noises that had been held at bay broke free. Sirens wailed and people yelled, but it was the whisper in her ear that she heard the loudest.

“Aurora, can you hear me?”

Again, she slowly peeped her eyes open. Sky’s face was an inch above hers, and he was holding her in his arms so she wouldn’t have to lie on the hot black tarmac.

“Aurora, can you hear me?”

She turned her head away from Sky and watched Lieutenant Colonel Jackson barking orders beside a few of her fellow cadets.

A large warm hand gently moved her head back. She braced herself to look into Sky’s accusing eyes, but his usual iciness had melted into a soft blue sky. There was nothing accusatory in them. Aurora didn’t know what this new look meant, but either way it probably wouldn’t be good.

“Does anything hurt?” he asked.

She tried to answer, but the only sound that came out of her was more of a grunt than anything else. The oxygen was starting to burn as it made its way down into her lungs. With clumsy hands she tried to move the mask away from her face, but Sky’s hands brushed hers away as he gently removed the mask for her.

“Better?”

She nodded.

He bent down and whispered, “I was so worried. I didn’t think you were going to recover.”

Aurora vaguely realized that she was being held very carefully by someone who had shown her no kindness in the past. In fact, Sky was totally out of character. She tried to sit up and push herself away from him.

“Wait, let me help.” Sky placed his hands under her arms and carefully propped her up against the XT-101’s nose wheel so she could sit up by herself.

Before she was able to ask Sky what happened and why he hadn’t taken control of the aircraft, Lieutenant Colonel Jackson squatted down in front of her. “Are you all right? Dr. Stevenson is on his way.”

The Lieutenant Colonel waved a medic team over in her direction but stopped his gesture when she managed to choke out, “Please don’t make me ride on a gurney.”

“Do you think you can walk back inside?”

Aurora contemplated standing up on her own and knew it wouldn’t be an easy task. She was surrounded by dominant males, and she would be damned if she were going to behave like a damsel in distress, even though she was clearly heading that way. With a strength she wasn’t sure she had, she stood up on two feet and waited to gain her balance. As she took her first step forward, a wave of dizziness washed over her. Before she toppled, Sky held his arm out to steady her.

It would probably be better to accept his help instead of falling flat on her face, so she reluctantly allowed him to help her. Things would only get even more embarrassing for her once the media got a hold of this story and had pictures of her falling down face first.

“I’m surprised there are no reporter’s here,” she whispered to Sky.

Sky shook his head. “Not anymore. Security was increased after the TerraUnited attack.”

“You mean the
TerraRists
attack?”

Sky looked at her like she had lost her mind. He was probably right. She suspected she was going into shock, but she couldn’t seem to care. At least there wouldn’t be live video feed of her barely walking away from her airplane. Aurora slowly walked back inside the SpacePort, surrounded by a large group of worried-looking men.

Once comfortably seated inside a private room, Lieutenant Colonel Jackson dismissed everyone except for her and Sky. Before closing the door, he barked out, “Send Dr. Stevenson in as soon as he gets here.”

Sitting down was a relief. Silently, she watched the Lieutenant Colonel while a variety of feelings crossed his face, ranging from relief to anger and repeating.

Though he was having trouble, Aurora could tell that he was trying to remain calm for her sake. She could barely keep her own emotions contained and wasn’t sure how she’d handle anyone else’s.

She was sore all over, had a pounding headache, and felt as if she were back on that stupid emotional rollercoaster, desperate to get off. One minute she was scared, then angry, and then elated that she survived, only to continue through the same emotions as the unstopping rollercoaster went up and down. She wondered who was whimpering, then realized the high-pitched sound was coming from her. She had barely survived; two thousand feet was nothing. If she had been a second slower in regaining consciousness or recovering the aircraft, she wouldn’t be sitting there.

The mach tuck she had inadvertently entered was the least of her problems. The only reason that had even happened was because she was too close to the aircraft’s performance limitations when her HUD and oxygen unit failed simultaneously. It was the combination of these two failures that ultimately caused the mach tuck. Because of her blackout, she had been unable to pull the throttle back after she pushed the nose of the aircraft down.

The combined losses of her instrument display and oxygen unit were to blame for losing control of the aircraft, but she now remembered the UAV link had also been INOP. She was smart enough to know that something had gone horribly wrong. Were those series of failures at once plausible? A niggling feeling in the back of her head brought up the possibility of sabotage, but she wanted to discard the thought.

The idea that someone would do this intentionally was frightening. Her earlier fear of the TerraRists came back, but again she dismissed the thought. The Academy wasn’t their target.

She looked over at Sky, who was slumped in the chair next to hers and appeared to be thinking very intently about something. He turned his head and focused his eyes on hers, and this time she held his stare.

Was his dislike of her enough to do something to prove she didn’t belong? Aurora touched her necklace as she thought this through. He would have had plenty of time and opportunity to harm her aircraft before her flight. Sky constantly told her that she didn’t belong and that the only reason she was even allowed to attend the school was because of who her father was. But would he try to kill her over it? As she looked into his eyes, she had a hard time believing he would want to harm her for those reasons alone.

What did his slight changes in behavior mean? Was his shocked concern and worry for her welfare all a show? And why did she desperately wish it wasn’t?

Lieutenant Colonel Jackson cleared his throat, and Sky looked away from her. Aurora had forgotten the Lieutenant Colonel was still in the room. She pulled her gaze from Sky to see him curiously staring at both of them, and she wondered what he made of their exchange.

“Anyone want to explain what happened?” he asked.

When she finally spoke, her voice surprised her. It sounded confident and cold. “That’s exactly what I want to know. The flight was going smoothly. I was maintaining fifty-five thousand feet when I received a warning that the UAV link went down. Soon after that, my instruments blinked out and the oxygen unit stopped working. I only had time to push the nose of the aircraft down before I lost consciousness. I must have entered a mach tuck because I didn’t get to pull the throttles back after pitching the nose down. I was too close to Coffin Corner to pull that move without slowing down.”

All was quiet when she finished speaking. She looked at both the Lieutenant Colonel, who wore a blank face, and Sky to see their reactions.

Sky stared ahead as he relived his side of the events. “I received the same warning about the ground program going offline. As I was trying to troubleshoot the problem, I heard Aurora issue a mayday. I watched on the radar screen as she descended thousands of feet per minute with no directional control, and I was unable to hail her. The UAV link was still down. I continued to call her over the radio, but I was unable to do anything other than watch. Fortunately, once she reached a lower altitude, there was enough oxygen for her to regain consciousness.” His deep voice shook with emotion.

He was either a really great actor or was truly alarmed by the event. But it still didn’t make sense, and she voiced her concern, hoping someone would be able to explain. “Why would the UAV, instruments, and O2 unit all fail at the same time?”

Sky shrugged his shoulders. “Maybe it was just an electrical failure that affected those three systems.” He said it like he was having a hard time believing it himself.

Aurora glanced at the Lieutenant Colonel, and he just shook his head. “We won’t know until we do a complete maintenance inspection.”

There very well could be a completely reasonable explanation, but she wanted to make sure. “What are the odds of all those failures happening at once? Do you think maybe something else caused it?”

Lieutenant Colonel Jackson’s eyebrows almost shot up off of his forehead as if the idea had never even crossed his mind, but Sky didn’t seem as if the insinuation surprised him.

Lieutenant Colonel Jackson sighed. “Aurora, I know you are in shock, but there’s absolutely no evidence to think someone else caused this. We’ll find the cause of the malfunctions when we have the maintenance inspection completed. I’m sure of it.”

“What about the TerraRists?”

“The who?” The Lieutenant Colonel asked in confusion.

“TerraUnited. Do you think they could have done this?”

“Aurora, the only people allowed near your aircraft are Apollo Alliance and Academy personnel. Aircraft malfunctions are rare, but they do happen.”

His words were a relief. Was she so self-absorbed that she had to turn everything into some plot against her? Obviously she wasn’t thinking clearly. She was going completely crazy; all of the attention on her was going to her head. Her shoulders slumped, and she no longer held back her tears. They streamed down her face, cooling her overheated skin. She felt so sick. She hurt all over, and she just wanted to lie down. Even her hair hurt. She could see it sticking out in odd directions all around, her braid having come undone. She was a complete mess.

She wiped away her tears, hoping the men wouldn’t say anything about them. Thankfully, they didn’t, but Lieutenant Colonel Jackson did look a little uncomfortable. She caught him looking at Sky as if asking him what they should do.

Evidently, Sky decided he could handle her because he motioned to the Lieutenant Colonel that he wanted to speak to her alone.

After the Lieutenant Colonel left, he looked at her and lifted her hand in his. The caring human touch reminded her that she was still very much alive, but she found herself wishing gray eyes were looking at her instead of blue.

“Your recovery today was phenomenal. That was some of the best quick maneuvering and decision making I’ve ever seen.” He stopped and looked as though he was sucking on a lemon while he squeezed out the rest, “I apologize for saying you don’t belong here, because clearly you do.”

With that, he stood and marched out of the room, leaving Aurora alone and feeling completely over her head.

ZANE

T
he hallway was completely silent and deserted when Zane made his way from Dr. Stevenson’s office to the cafeteria. The only sounds he heard were his running footsteps as they pounded against the tile floor. He couldn’t get to the cafeteria fast enough. Lights, sensing a human presence, automatically turned on as he ran down the hallway. He almost laughed at the irony. Was he still human if he had something very inhuman embedded into his DNA?

Zane shoved those thoughts away. His mind was a jumbled mess. There was no need to focus on his unknown freak issues because a more pressing issue consumed his heart. Something bad had happened at the SpacePort.

If anything’s happened to Aurora…
Zane covered his ears with his hands, as if that would stop him from hearing what he didn’t want to think about.

Determined to at least address one of the issues on his mind, he picked up his speed. If there was anywhere he would find out the latest gossip, it would be here.

The cafeteria was crowded with the hustle and bustle of people eating. Chairs scraped the tile floors as people moved around. It was dinnertime, so the room was filled with students, graduated cadets, astronauts, teachers, and scientists. He didn’t pretend he was there to eat. Instead of ordering a dinner plate, he strode over to the alcove where the first-year cadets liked to gather.

Akemi, Kaylana, Jean-Pierre, and Rick all huddled at a table together, their heads down. Zane took the seat next to Rick, hoping he would know about Dr. Stevenson’s emergency call. Jean-Pierre probably could have told him what happened, but sometimes his French accent was heavy.

Unfortunately, no one was really talking. Kaylana had her head down on the table, and Akemi’s hand kept hovering over her shoulder, like he wanted to comfort her but didn’t quite know how.

Even though he wanted to demand answers, he spoke calmly. “You guys look a little freaked out. Does this have anything to do with the emergency Dr. Stevenson received?”

Akemi’s hovering hand quickly dropped onto his lap just as Kaylana’s head popped up. She eyed him suspiciously. “Yeah. How did you know?”

“I, uh, was with him when he got the call?” he said, the words coming out like a question.

Kaylana deflated. “Oh. Okay.”

The table’s earlier silence resumed, and he heard Hailen and Brianna laughing with a few cadets nearby. Zane turned his attention back to his table, but no one was volunteering any information. He looked directly at Rick. “So what happened?”

Rick gazed at Zane, his face pale.

Zane raised his eyebrows in an aren’t-you-going-to-say-anything look.

Rick took the hint. “Aurora had some sort of instrument and oxygen failure at fifty-five thousand feet. She passed out, went into a mach tuck, and—” Rick swallowed.

Zane had to restrain himself from shaking the information out of him, but Rick finally whispered, “She barely recovered in time.”

If it was possible, Zane thought Rick’s face had grown even paler during his speech, but he understood the sentiment. The painful knot in Zane’s stomach made sense. He knew Dr. Stevenson’s quick departure for an emergency would involve Aurora. That girl was always in the middle of everything.

“Is she all right?” His heart rate began to spike.

Weird he couldn’t get his heart rate to increase running twenty-six miles, but a certain petite, green-eyed girl could do it. Zane looked at Kaylana. “Is she okay?”

She met his concerned eyes and nodded.

Some of the tension in Zane’s shoulders eased. Pursing his lips together, he thought this information over.

“Why didn’t the ground pilot take over?”

Rick shook his head. “I guess the UAV was down too.”

What were the odds of that many failures occurring at the same time? “Is that even possible? What happened after that? Is she okay?” Zane couldn’t help but ask that last one again. He needed more than just a head nod.

Rick shrugged and shook his head, his usual confidence on anything involving aviation completely gone. “From what I heard, the ground pilot program was down, so Sky wasn’t able to help her. She passed out from lack of oxygen but regained consciousness when she hit lower altitudes. As far as what caused all of her simultaneous failures, I don’t really know. I had just landed when she declared her emergency, and Lieutenant Colonel Jackson sent everyone back to the Academy before they got details of what happened. All I know is that Aurora, Sky, and the Lieutenant Colonel were visibly shook up. I’m sure a maintenance crew will be going through her aircraft to figure it all out.”

Now that Rick had started talking, he couldn’t seem to stop. “It must have been horrible. There was apparently nothing anyone could do to help her.” He paused before adding. “I don’t understand how she could have that many failures all at the same time. Usually, there are redundant systems that prevent failures like that.”

Rick looked around, like he was about to reveal a big secret. “Most people don’t realize it, but Aurora is one of the best pilots the Academy’s ever seen. I’m not sure any other person would have survived. Hopefully the maintenance team will fix whatever problem there was so that it doesn’t happen again.”

Rick’s shoulders slumped, and he put his hands on his head. “And I haven’t done anything, but make things harder for her. All the guys give her a hard time in training, and I just go along with it. I’ve never once told them to stop. And you know what she does?” He looked around at everyone at the table. “She just sucks it up and works even harder to prove her worth. I feel awful. She could’ve died today.”

Zane looked from Rick only to see tears falling down Kaylana’s very red cheeks. Akemi finally reached over and patted her shoulder, succeeding in his attempts to console her.

It looked like a lot of people had been treating Aurora differently, some just more subtly than others.

Kaylana seemed to be feeling better now that Akemi’s hand had made its way into hers. Zane was surprised that she wasn’t strapped to Aurora’s side, after everything that had happened today. “Where is Aurora, anyway?”

Kaylana wiped her eyes with the one hand Akemi wasn’t holding. “She’s lying down in our room. Dr. Stevenson said she needed some rest, and she asked to be alone for a little while.”

“What happened to the airplane?” The growing knot in Zane’s stomach made him sure that it was something beyond normal failure. Most people wouldn’t think too far past her emergency because she was all right, but Zane was confident that something else was at work.

Why would that many systems fail at once? Like Rick said, there were several fail safes in place to prevent that kind of disastrous combination, and Zane would know. He worked on those kinds of things all the time.

Rick scrunched his eyebrows, as if he thought this was an odd question, but he answered it anyway. “The Lieutenant Colonel hauled it into the maintenance hangar.”

Zane nodded, deep in thought. “Where’s Sky?” He wouldn’t mind having a little chat with him. As her ground partner, he would have witnessed the entire event. When everyone at the table just shrugged their shoulders, he contemplated asking Hailen because he occasionally saw them together but then thought better of it.

Pushing the chair back from the table, he stood up to leave. He had too many things to figure out to sit around and mope in the cafeteria. Once he’d ensured Aurora’s safety, he’d fix his own issues. He stifled the urge to verify for himself that she was safely tucked away in her room, said goodbye to everyone at the table, and strode out of the cafeteria confident he would find answers.